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As a group manager: How to create and manage a group (VO)

Check if you need a VO

You may need a so-called “virtual organisation” (VO), if you

  • want to manage multiple users, in hierarchical groups, for multiple services, and/or
  • want to include users outside of Helmholtz.

This comes with a bit of overhead. Simple shares via links etc. may be more handy, depending on your use case.

Request your VO

  1. We need the following basic infos to create your new VO. Send this to support@hifis.net:
    • A name of the VO/group (replace whitespaces with underscores)
    • A very brief description of purpose (one sentence)
    • At least one responsible person from Helmholtz who is to take care of the overall group and its members
      • Note: that management rights can also be further delegated or distributed within the group, where needed
    • Optional: An acceptable use policy, binding joining users to a specific purpose. Templates here: odt / pdf.
    • More detailed information on the process is here.
  2. You need 2nd factor authentication (2FA) for group management:
    • If your center already asks for a 2nd factor authentication (2FA) during login:
      Perfect, you can skip this step.
    • Otherwise, you need to explicitly set 2FA for group management:
      • Log in at https://login.helmholtz.de/home/
      • Tab “Sign-In”.
      • Do not click on “Enable two-step authentication if possible”, as it is unneeded for this purpose.
      • Go to “One time password”.
      • Scan the QR code with an appropriate 2FA app, and confirm.

Managing your new VO

  1. Once the group/VO is created, we will contact you.
  2. Ensure proper authorization / access for your group at the service(s) of interest:
    • Most likely, you (or any other group member) need to (re-) log in once to the service, in order to register the new VO/group there.
    • Contact the service owner (default: support@hifis.net) to grant access to the new group.
  3. Invite people:
    • Log in to the group management endpoint at https://login.helmholtz.de/upman/, with 2FA.
    • Invite your users via Tab “Invitations” and adding their emails. Wait for invitations to be sent (progress bar on top of screen).
    • Optionally manage subgroups and delegate responsibilities, as described here.
  4. Instruct your users by pointing to the corresponding steps on how to join a group/VO.